Every family knows the feeling. You spend $1,000 to get everyone to the happiest place on Earth, and by 1:30 someone’s crying, someone’s sunburned, and somebody just paid $18 for a hot dog. Robert Niles from Theme Park Insider (the site that Robert jokes AI is pulling all its theme park data from) comes back to the basement to help you avoid that fate. This year he’s also got strong opinions on which park is winning summer 2026, and it’s not the one you’d expect.
What You’ll Walk Away With
- Why the biggest theme park mistake families make has nothing to do with the park — and everything to do with who’s in the crew going with you
- Which park Robert says is winning summer 2026 — including a brand-new attraction that combines rollercoaster, dark ride, and water ride into one experience
- The quick game: lightning lane passes, VIP tours, park hoppers, character breakfasts, fireworks packages, meal plans — worth it, skip it, or depends?
- Why Tokyo DisneySea is boss-level theme parking — and the specific 10-minute window that determines whether you get on the top rides or wait four hours
- The sleeper parks most families overlook — including one with a water park included in the ticket price and another that Herschend hasn’t bought yet
- How to use the Theme Park Insider community to find the actual strategy for any park before you arrive — written by real visitors, not AI
- Why sit-down air-conditioned lunch in the middle of a hot park day might be the best $40 you spend all summer
- The over-planning trap — and why having a plan matters less than being willing to abandon it
- What a Netflix show taught CNBC about health insurance deductibles — and why one in four Gen Z adults still doesn’t know what a deductible actually is
- The HSA trap hiding inside high-deductible health plans — and why choosing the cheaper plan can end up costing you far more
Why This Matters Now
Summer is when families spend real money on experiences that either become great memories or expensive regrets. A little planning separates the two more than most people think — and the same principle applies to health insurance. Both conversations in this episode are about making sure the money you spend on your family actually delivers what you paid for.
From the Basement
Robert Niles from Theme Park Insider joins Joe and OG to kick off summer 2026 — and Joe finally confesses that going to Dollywood last year changed his life. The headline segment tackles a CNBC piece inspired by the Netflix show Beef, which turns into a genuinely useful conversation about deductibles, HSAs, max-out-of-pocket numbers, and when the high-deductible plan is actually the wrong choice. Doug arrives with Formula Rossa trivia and a strongly worded editorial about what counts as a complete meal. The back porch features perhaps the best parenting post the basement has ever produced.
Resources Mentioned
Stacking Benjamins Community — stackingbenjamins.com/basement
Theme Park Insider — themeparkinsider.com; reviews, trip planning guides, and community discussion boards
Beef on Netflix — referenced for the deductible explainer segment
CNBC health insurance article by Annie Nova — linked at stackingbenjamins.com
Stacking Benjamins Newsletter (The 201) — stackingbenjamins.com/201
Stacking Benjamins Vault — stackingbenjamins.com/vault
Enjoy!
Our Mentor: Robert Niles
Big thanks to Robert Niles for joining us today. To learn more about Robert, visit Theme Park Insider. Grab yourself a copy of the book Stories from a Theme Park Insider
Our Headline
Doug’s Trivia
- What brand of Formula One race car does the fastest roller coaster on earth pretend you’re riding?
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Other Mentions
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Written by: Kevin Bailey
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Episode transcript
[00:00:00] headlines: Nervous? [00:00:01] Doug: Yes. [00:00:02] Joe: First time. [00:00:03] Doug: No, I’ve been nervous lots of times. [00:00:10] Doug: Live from Joe’s mom’s basement, it’s the Stacking Benjamins show. [00:00:24] Doug: I’m Joe’s mom’s neighbor, Doug, and are you ready to kick off summer 2026? I sure am. I got my notepad ready because I can’t wait to hear from our annual guest who kicks off another season of theme park madness. From the top theme park website, Theme Park Insider, we welcome back Robert Niles. Plus, a hot new Netflix show might help you understand your financial and healthcare options. [00:00:49] Doug: What is it? We’ll share and help you understand health coverage strategies better. And don’t you worry, halfway through the show, I’ll come sauntering in like I own the place with some great Wednesday Benjamin stacking trivia. And now, two guys who are always happy to help you avoid the rollercoaster of investing emotions, it’s Joe and O-G-G, G. [00:01:19] Joe: We are back to the beginning of another summer. OG, it feels like Robert Niles was just here with us, and now he’s upstairs talking to Mom again. [00:01:29] OG: Yeah, maybe in your world. Um, not, not so much here. There’s been a lot, there’s been a lot of stuff between here and, uh- Long year … here in the last year. I mean, a lot of great stuff. [00:01:40] OG: It’s not been bad, but a lot of great stuff. [00:01:42] Joe: Well, and Robert Niles, of course, always brings the good stuff that you can enjoy each summer. I know that, and we’ll talk about this later, I went to Dollywood last year because Robert Niles wouldn’t stop talking about it. And I have to tell you, even if you’re not a huge theme park fan, what a great, great place that was. [00:01:58] Joe: Have either of you guys been? No. Yeah. Haven’t, but I’ve heard good things. Yeah, highly recommend it. We went to a fall festival there, and they had fantastic food. And, uh, the Dolly Parton Museum, which I think all of us can appreciate, just man, that woman, all the stuff that she did. [00:02:15] Doug: She’s the most liked public figure in America. [00:02:19] Doug: It has to be. Like, by numerous different polls. Has to be. She shows up. [00:02:23] Joe: Yeah. Easily. And I know she’s having some health concerns, and she’s a big Stacker fan, so Dolly, we hope that you’re, uh, you’re getting better. Man, we’ve got a great show today though, so sit back and relax. If it’s your first time listening to the greatest money show on Earth, the Stacking Benjamins show, you might wonder, “What do theme parks have to do with a money show?” [00:02:43] Joe: You know what? Theme parks can be incredibly expensive- If you’re gonna spend that kind of money, let’s make sure that it’s worth it. And Robert Niles over the years has taught our Stackers so many great tips and tricks, and also talked about what’s hot, maybe what you can avoid and think about later. All of those things I think factor into let’s have some really good fun this summer and maybe either save money or make it worth it if we’re gonna spend a lot of money. [00:03:08] Joe: So Robert coming up. We got a great headline as well. We also have a couple sponsors who help us keep on keeping on. One is The Vault. If you go to stackingbenjamins.com/vault, you will see that not only do we help you protect your identity and get off of all of those lists and your credit, also coming up to The Vault is budgeting. [00:03:33] Joe: The Vault now already a Swiss Army knife. You can track your budget, you can track your net worth and get off those… So many different things. Stackingbenjamins.com/vault. Why have 18 different financial apps when you could have it all in one? We have a couple more sponsors here, and then our only other sponsors the entire episode are in the middle of Doug’s trivia. [00:03:57] Joe: So we’re gonna hear from them now, and then Mr. Theme Park Insider himself, the mind behind the number one website on theme parks in the nation, Robert Niles, coming back down to the basement to help us kick off summer. [00:04:17] Joe: I can’t believe summer’s about to begin already. And you know how you know? ‘Cause Robert Niles is back in Mom’s basement. How are you, Mr. Niles? [00:04:26] Robert: I am doing really well. How have you been for the past, uh… It’s been like two weeks since I’ve talked to you, right? [00:04:32] Joe: I totally feel like that. I have to brag. I have to brag. [00:04:36] Joe: Because of you, I went to Dollywood last year. [00:04:39] Robert: Congratulations. Your life is complete. That’s it. We’re done. Okay, thanks everyone. It seriously is complete. [00:04:45] Joe: You kept telling me how good it is over and over and over- Mm-hmm … and I think over and over and over- Mm-hmm … and over and over and over. And we finally went, and oh my God, Robert, what a great time. [00:04:55] Joe: I didn’t even need the rides. I’m so happy for you. I’m so happy. The food, the theming, just hanging out, the music, as you know, the Dolly museum. Robert, this place- Mm-hmm … is great [00:05:06] Robert: Yeah, and you don’t have to be a Dolly Parton fan, although you will be after you visit, because it just, it’s that. It’s everything that you want from a theme park. [00:05:15] Robert: It’s that theming, it’s that atmosphere, it’s that customer service. It’s like going to Japan without having to pay for it. It’s that level of just attention to people really want you to have a good time, want you to feel welcomed, and you can’t help but just feel better about everyone around you while you’re there. [00:05:34] Robert: It’s just a wonderful place to visit. [00:05:36] Joe: Well, and that’s what I was mostly blown away by, was the number of older people that were there that clearly didn’t care about the rides. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Like, you can tell by the clientele that’s there what they’re doing. All right, I wanna make this- But the rides are really good. [00:05:46] Joe: Oh, the rides were amazing. The rides are- lightning rod, amazing. Just incredible. One of the top [00:05:51] Robert: 10 coasters in the world. [00:05:52] Joe: Oh, it, it, just incred- All right, I could fawn over Dollywood, but we got a lot of work to do here in the short amount of time that we have you. We wanna make this Dollywood moment that I have, no matter what theme park people are going to, great for everybody, because you know every family’s had this moment. [00:06:08] Joe: You spend $1,000 to get everybody to the, quote, “Happiest place on Earth,” right? And by 1:30, somebody’s crying, somebody’s sunburned, and somebody just paid 18 bucks for a hotdog. So we wanna save some Stackers from that fate, so let’s work on this. If you were planning a theme park for your own family, like you do, where do you start, Robert? [00:06:31] Robert: It really just depends upon what are the ages of your kids, uh, who’s going on this thing. Do you have kids? Uh, is it just you? Just you and a significant other? Kids? Extended family? Multiple generations going on all this? I mean, think who’s in the crew that’s making this trip, ’cause that’s gonna have a huge influence on the type of places that you visit. [00:06:50] Robert: And if you’ve got really little kids, like early elementary, hey, you wanna be looking at places like the Legoland theme park, stuff that’s really made specifically for them, because that is a tough age to appeal to. So [00:07:00] Joe: wait a minute. So you’re saying don’t start with the park. Start with you and your family, and choose the park, b- because you could be going to the wrong park in the first place, I think is what you’re saying. [00:07:11] Robert: Absolutely. I mean, there are parks that people hate that are perfect for other people. I mean, it really just is all about the fit. This is a relationship. This isn’t just you consuming a pro- This is a relationship, and you’ve gotta be a 50/50 partner in this relationship. And if it’s a bad match for you, uh, it could be the greatest park in the world for everybody else, but it’s a terrible purchase for you to be making for your family. [00:07:33] Robert: So think about who’s in the crew that’s going on this, and what you’re all into at this point. I mean, you could have kids that are really into Minions and Shrek, and if you’re taking them to Disney instead of Universal, you’re making a mistake. If your kids are really into Star Wars and Marvel and… Well, okay, there’s one exception on this, and you’re going to Universal instead of Disney, again, it’s a mistake. [00:07:57] Robert: There’s great stuff at all of these parks, but it’s really about which ones are right for you. [00:08:02] Joe: I’m sure then I hop on a place, hmm, like Theme Park Insider. Oh, yeah. How do you plan out your day? [00:08:10] Robert: One of the really nice things that we’ve got on Theme Park Insider is a section called Reviews, themeparkinsider.com/reviews, and we’ve got one-page guides on there that we’ve kind of crowdsourced what’s the best strategy for going to, uh, various parks. [00:08:22] Robert: The general advice is you wanna get there as early as possible before the park opens so that you can go, you know, run and go do the most popular ride in the park first thing before it really builds up a long line. That’s not always the case, but that’s generally the rule on that. Almost all parks at this point will sell you an up-charge line-skipping pass that gets you into a shorter queue. [00:08:43] Robert: It’s never truly a line skip, but gets you into a shorter queue. And sometimes if, uh, you know, this is a once in a lifetime trip or a once in a very long time trip and you’ve got a little extra money to splurge, those can be good deals. But sometimes, depending on where you visit, you don’t need to do that. [00:08:57] Robert: With a little smart planning, you can avoid anything over a half-hour wait and still get on all the major rides. So, you know, that’s really park-specific, and that’s why we’ve got all of those guides up on themeparkinsider.com. But in general, what you really wanna do is try and find the place that’s right for you, ’cause if it is right for you, ultimately you’re gonna figure it out. [00:09:18] Robert: I mean, ultimately you’re gonna have a good time. Like you were saying about Dollywood, even if you don’t get on all the rides, you’re still having a great time, ’cause it’s just a fun place to be that really vibes with what you’re looking for in a family vacation. What’s the biggest mistake you think that [00:09:32] Joe: families make when they’re planning? [00:09:35] Robert: Thinking that they have to do something because somebody else told them to. You don’t wanna do this just because your friends at school or your friends at the workplace just told you, “Oh, you have to go to Disney because you have kids that age.” Hmm. The mistake that a lot of people make is just getting themselves into a bad situation, and then all of the effort in the world, throwing all the money you’ve got at it, isn’t gonna get you out of that bad situation. [00:10:01] Robert: So the thing is, avoid going to the destination that’s not right for you in the first place. And if you do that, then you’re gonna have a good time. [00:10:08] Joe: Are there [00:10:08] Robert: wrong days to go to a theme park? Not really. No, I’m gonna come off of that. There aren’t. Even on the busiest day, you can still have a good time. [00:10:18] Robert: Okay. There are obviously better days to go to a theme park than other days. One of the tricks with if you’re going to Walt Disney World, go check out the calendar for something called RunDisney. That is the half-marathons, marathons that they run at the park, about four or five different weekends during the year, and they’re kind of things that you wouldn’t think of being peak weekends, and that’s why Disney scheduled these running events on them, and they fill those parks. [00:10:44] Robert: You have got tens of thousands of people, runners, bringing their family. They’re running in the parks before they open in the morning. Their family is coming to join them. So when the park opens, it’s full on those weekends, and if you happen to be there on one of those weekends, maybe that’s the day you sleep in and come in later, or you just find a different weekend to visit. [00:11:03] Robert: But there are little things like that all over the place. In general, if there’s no school on that day, it’s gonna be more crowded, so if you can visit on a school day, you’ll be better off. So that then works out to your own situation. If, uh, your kids are in school, then that’s not really gonna help you. [00:11:21] Robert: Uh, it used to be that there was a little bit of a shift in academic calendars around the country, that California got out a lot later than other schools, which made Disneyland a nice place to visit, like, in early June, but- Oh? … everyone’s kind of gone to the same calendar now. Everyone’s getting out kind of mid to early May and coming back in August, so that’s not so much of a factor. [00:11:43] Robert: Do, however, consider, uh, hurricane season in Florida. That is something you might wanna keep in mind. You can get some great deals, end up at really nice parks, or you could be in the middle of a torrential storm. It takes your chances. [00:11:57] Joe: A good friend of mine decided to go even though there was a hurricane bearing down on Orlando. [00:12:01] Joe: Mm-hmm. They’d already paid. Uh, they had a bunch of non-refundable tickets. The, the hurricane took a hard right that year, Robert, and he said, “We were in the park by ourself,” which was serendipity, but probably not good planning. [00:12:12] Robert: One of the things to remember about visiting Orlando during hurricane season is when a hurricane hits Florida, all the people on the coast evacuate to Orlando. [00:12:22] Robert: Oh. So it’s gotta be a really big storm to still be hurricane strength by the time it gets that far inland, but at the same time, you’re in what could be an island at that point. You could be in a situation where you can’t get your flight back in time to get back to work or school, whatever commitments. [00:12:37] Robert: Roads might not be available to you. So I mean, this is not something to be taken lightly, but in terms of personal safety, if I were going to be anywhere in the state of Florida when a hurricane hit, I would pick Orlando. [00:12:50] Joe: I- it’s funny because, of course, I spend time following you on the internet, and I watch creators, and I watch families plan these trips. [00:12:59] Joe: Does it feel to you sometimes like they’re- is over-planning going on? Like, there’s somebody who’s too excited and maybe makes this a death march instead of a great holiday? [00:13:09] Robert: I love planning. I think planning is part of the excitement of a trip. Obviously, my livelihood depends on people planning trips. I mean, I started this website because I love planning and I wanted to help other people plan. [00:13:20] Robert: But the really important thing to remember about planning is it’s okay to abandon a plan. [00:13:26] headlines: Mm. [00:13:27] Robert: Go make the plan. Don’t worry about making the plan, but recognize that when you get on the ground and the situation presents itself, you can abandon that plan and go with something else. It’s your vacation. Have fun with it. [00:13:41] Robert: If you were planning on doing something, but something else catches your eye and you’re like, “I never knew about this. I wanna check it out,” go for it. It’s your vacation. Enjoy it. And I [00:13:51] Joe: love, and you caution me about this many, many times, just scheduling in breaks too. Just scheduling- No, absolutely. [00:13:57] Joe: Absolutely … “You know what? We’re not, we’re not gonna plan anything for this afternoon. It’s gonna be just whatever time.” [00:14:01] Robert: That is becoming more and more important on summer vacations as well as weather gets more extreme and more hot. I see people all the time in Orlando who scheduled thinking that it was gonna be the same as a summer back home in Michigan, and they get down in that heat and humidity, and they don’t last more than half an hour before they need that break. [00:14:20] Robert: So keep in mind that if you’re going someplace that’s a different environment, because you want that heat, you want that sun, that heat and that sun’s gonna take that energy out of you, so you’re gonna need more breaks than you think you need. [00:14:32] Joe: I’m laughing as you’re talking because I just remember that Jim Gaffigan joke about, you know, taking your family to Disney in July is like vacationing on the surface of the sun, so – But with better rides With better rides, right. [00:14:44] Joe: Agreed. I like the fact that you started with your family, not the park. But when you’re evaluating a park, you’ve been to the good, bad, and the ugly around not just the United States but the world. How do you know whether a park is actually worth the money? [00:14:58] Robert: Yeah, that’s the big question, isn’t it? For me, I mean, I know that there are certain parks that really deliver when it comes to customer service. [00:15:07] Robert: Ultimately, that’s it for me. A park can have the most amazing iron- The most amazing capital in place. If it doesn’t have the soft product, if it doesn’t have the customer service, I’m not having nearly as good a time at a park that has invested in people, that has invested in customer service, that’s gonna make me feel welcome. [00:15:27] Robert: That’s why I love the Herschend theme parks. That’s Dollywood. That’s Silver Dollar City. Actually, they are buying up theme parks all over America. Mm. If you have a independently owned family local theme park, chances are Herschend either bought it or they’re going to buy it soon. But they’re doing great. [00:15:42] Robert: Privately held company, they don’t have to answer to Wall Street. They can invest in that soft product, and they do. I love those parks for that. Disney and Universal are pretty good at that. I mean, obviously, if you’re there on a super crowded day, it can be tough, but if you go in there with the right attitude, you’re kind to people, you’re gonna find a lot of kindness coming back with that. [00:16:00] Robert: Right now, it’s getting a little rough at the Six Flags parks with their staffing, but again, uh, it’s so site dependent upon that. I mean, everybody I know from northern Ohio loves Cedar Point. Cedar Point has continued to deliver for people over the years. A lot of people in Texas are swearing by Six Flags Fiesta Texas as one of the best parks in that chain as well. [00:16:19] Robert: So there’s still value to be had. That’s in, uh, what, San [00:16:21] Joe: Antonio, right? San Antonio. [00:16:23] Robert: Yeah. That’s their park there. Yeah, the one in Arlington’s not so great. Yeah, they’re doing a big new coaster this year. You know, there’s some hope for that, I think. Good. Uh, there’s some positive momentum going there. But yeah, there is a gap right now between Herschend and Disney and Universal, and then you see United Parks and Six Flags, and with Legoland kind of somewhere in between. [00:16:42] Robert: But for me, what I’m looking for is when I’m reading other people’s trip reports, when I’m reading things like the Theme Park Insider discussion board and our review section, I’m looking for people who are talking about customer services experiences. And if they’re talking about great customer service experiences, that’s a park I’m circling, going, “Maybe I want to get to,” something like Efteling in the Netherlands. [00:17:02] Robert: I cracked a joke about Japan earlier. Japan, best customer service in the world. Anything in Japan, you’re gonna be doing okay. Uh, trouble is that everybody is onto this at this point, and those parks are super crowded. That is the boss level for theme park fans. If you’ve conquered everything else and you’re ready to level up to total the big boss battle, then you go do a Japan theme park, because those are not for the, uh, beginners and the novices. [00:17:27] Robert: If I’m going to [00:17:27] Joe: Japan and only have time for one theme park, is it Disney Seas? [00:17:33] Robert: Yeah, I’m going to Tokyo Disney Sea, and that is the most challenging theme park in the world to visit if you want to get all the top stuff because you’re gonna have to get there an hour and a half, two hours before it opens. [00:17:44] Robert: Two, wow. You’re gonna have to have that, you’re gonna have to have that app downloaded. You’re gonna have to have a payment s- system set up, which can be a little tricky in Japan, because you’re gonna have to buy a premier access to their Frozen ride within 10 minutes of that park opening. So you have to be one of the people who get into that park in the first 10 minutes in order to buy that. [00:18:03] Robert: Otherwise, you’re looking at a three to four-hour wait for that attraction. So that’s why I say it’s boss level stuff is everybody has figured out how to optimize this. There are no people that you can take advantage because if they don’t know what they’re doing. Every single person in that park knows exactly what they’re doing. [00:18:19] Robert: They’ve done this before. They are experts at it, and it makes it a absolutely wonderful environment once you’re in there because everybody knows what they’re doing. Everything works so smoothly. People are so friendly about it. That is a rush when that park opens. It is, it is the theme park equivalent of running with the bulls. [00:18:37] Robert: I- There’s no walking there. [00:18:40] Joe: Well, and this is where planning pays, right? On this park. Absolutely. ‘Cause it’s, especially for me in that Disney system. [00:18:45] Robert: Now, now if, if you roll in right at park open to Tokyo DisneySea, you’re gonna be able to walk right in. You’re gonna be able to get on a lot of great rides that day. [00:18:52] Robert: You’re gonna have a wonderful time. But if you wanna go on that Frozen ride, you wanna go on some of the two or three top attractions at that park, you’re not gonna get in because it’s gonna take three to four-hour wait standby on those. And if you’re okay with that, great, you’re gonna have a wonderful time. [00:19:06] Robert: This is such a beautiful park, has great food, wonderful customer service. Even below that top tier of attractions, absolutely wonderful experiences that you’ll have a great time on. It’s just that if you do a little bit of planning, you can maximize it into the ultimate theme park experience. And if you’ve been around a lot of parks and you’re looking to level up to that, Tokyo DisneySea is the place to go. [00:19:28] Joe: Oh, I wanna get on a plane right now, Robert. All right. We talk about, you know, stocks going up in value, stocks going down in value on the show a lot. What park is winning summer 2026? [00:19:39] Robert: Going back to it, it’s gonna be Dollywood. Dollywood. I mean, right now I think there are a lot of people who are feeling priced out by Disney, who are feeling a little overwhelmed by how popular Disney has become, who are looking for something that’s a little bit more old school. [00:19:52] Robert: On the East Coast, Dollywood is that, and they are debuting one of the most highly anticipated new attractions of the year, a new ride called Night Flight Expedition. Uh, if you’re like, “Okay, Robert, what kind of ride is that?” I’m like, “Well, it’s kind of a rollercoaster. It’s kind of a dark ride. It’s kind of a water ride. [00:20:08] Robert: It’s everything all combined into one-” Experience about being in the Smoky Mountains at twilight and kind of all the magic of that experience and that wonderful natural environment, created artificially at a brand-new multimodal, you know, dark ride experience. But we don’t have an opening date on that one yet, unfortunately, but they are saying that it’s gonna be open sometime this summer. [00:20:31] Robert: If you’re a little bit farther west though, uh, it’s, uh, sister park Silver Dollar City I think is absolutely winning right now. They did a great new version of their Fire in the Hole attraction a couple of summers ago. That’s still around, and they do such a wonderful job there with that whole experience and some great roller coasters there. [00:20:48] Robert: Outlaw Run is another real winner. Those are two great parks. If you’re feeling like, um, you know, Orlando is not what you’re vibing this year, go take a look at those parks in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri. Those are really good options for people. And, you know, I’m in Southern California, so I will always sing the praises of Disneyland. [00:21:09] Robert: In fact, actually, Disneyland has got some projects coming up in the future that maybe make this a good summer to come visit while they’re working on their new Avengers rides that we’re hoping for maybe next year or the year after that. Why does that make this year so good then? People tend to plan to go to places right when they open big, new things. [00:21:28] Robert: So if you go the year before- Oh, so people are sleeping on it … they open the big, new things, a lot of people are sleeping on things. Ah. The one complicating factor with that potentially is the economy, and people are now looking for staycations, and you’ve got, what, 15 million people in Southern California, and their number one staycation destination is Disneyland. [00:21:46] Robert: So kind of the way Disneyland prices things these days is they have a pricing model that varies by day that actually makes it so that the summer is one of the best times to visit that park. The annual passes are blocked out. Just look around and see what’s a good date for you and check that by the variable pricing and see if you can find a good deal there. [00:22:08] Robert: And there’s a ton of hotels that are within walking distance that aren’t Disney that, uh, you know, maybe you’re part of that loyalty program and you’ve got some free nights and you wanna spend it in Anaheim, California. Great way to make it an affordable vacation too. [00:22:21] Joe: What’s a sleeper park that nobody talks about enough? [00:22:25] Robert: Um, my stock answer for this one is always Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana. That is one of those family-owned- I still gotta go … parks that Herschend hasn’t bought yet. It’s a sleeper park because honestly, it’s a little bit of a haul to get to. Small town called Santa Claus, Indiana, which is actually about an hour west of Louisville, Kentucky. [00:22:45] Robert: Uh, and I think it’s Interstate 64 there, a little bit south of that. Uh, wonderful park, really literally in the middle of a corn field. Great attractions. Again, this is another one that does really well with the customer service. How they find people to work this park, I do not know, but they find really good people, and I’ve always had a wonderful time there. [00:23:05] Robert: Another park that I think gets slept on is, honestly, I’ve gotta advocate for the Legoland parks if you’ve got those early elementary kids, uh, or grandkids. They’re in Florida, they’re in California, they’re in New York now. In Europe, uh, if you’re taking the kids for a European vacation and you wanna bribe them to get on the plane, throw a day at one of the many Legoland parks in, in Europe there, and, and they will gladly go along with all of the museums and cathedrals that you wanna go visit as well. [00:23:34] Joe: You mentioned, uh, the new ride at Dollywood, but there’s gotta be another new attraction this year that people are gonna be talking about all year. What’s the, what’s the hot new [00:23:43] Robert: thing, Robert? Honestly, I think one of the hot new things that people are gonna be talking about, I don’t know, uh, if that conversation is necessarily, necessarily gonna be a positive one, but Disneyland has changed its Soaring ride for the summer. [00:23:57] Robert: It’s no longer Soaring Around the World, it’s Soaring Across America. If you, uh, remember Disney back in the old days and their America the Beautiful and their Circle-Rama 360, they’ve kinda gone back to that with an American-themed Soarin’ ride. The original one was just California, and then they went around the world. [00:24:14] Robert: Now they’re doing S- Soarin’, uh, Across America for America 250, and I think that’s gonna get some people talking. But the one at Disney that I’m actually kinda looking forward to, and I’m gonna get the opportunity to go on it in a couple weeks here is, they changed Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Walt Disney World. [00:24:30] Robert: Used to be Aerosmith, and now it’s gonna be The Muppets. It’s Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring The Muppets. I am ridiculously excited for this attraction. I realize that I am the Gen X demographic that they’re going for here, but you give me Muppets anything and I’m gonna go. [00:24:51] Joe: That’s fantastic. I wanted to ask some quick questions. Let’s do a quick mini-game. Okay. I just wanna ask you if these are worth the wait. Do w- Is it worth it? Do we skip it? Or does it depend? This concept, you brought it up earlier, of Lightning lane, skip the lane. Worth it? [00:25:10] Robert: Occasionally. Most of the time, no. [00:25:13] Joe: VIP tours, we’re seeing those even at regional parks. Worth it? [00:25:18] Robert: Uh, depends upon the park. At Disney, if you’ve got the money for it, absolutely go for it. Universal, go for it. Some of the smaller regional parks, uh, I think I would just do the regular line skip pass. [00:25:29] Joe: Let’s go Disney [00:25:29] Robert: specific- well, Disney and Universal specifically, park hoppers. [00:25:34] Robert: In California, yes, do it for Disneyland. Do not do it for Walt Disney World in Florida. Universal Orlando, if you’re just going between Studios and Islands of Adventure, do it. I don’t think they offer one yet for Epic Universe, but that’s way far away, so if you’re gonna do Epic, you’re just doing that park alone on that day. [00:25:52] Robert: Yeah, [00:25:52] Joe: it’s actually across town, isn’t it? [00:25:54] Robert: Yeah. Uh, the funny thing is it’s actually closer to the other two parks than any of the Disney World parks are, but because you’re going down I-Drive, it seems like it’s a lot farther away. Like, I think Magic Kingdom and Epcot are farther away than, like- That’s why- [00:26:08] Robert: Epic and Studios … well, because it’s all on [00:26:09] Joe: property, you think it’s… Yeah. [00:26:10] Robert: Yeah. All right. Uh, character breakfast. I wanna skip so badly. Um, but if you have a kid who really needs to meet the characters, that’s honestly one of the best ways to do it. Uh, you get it done early in the day, you know they’re coming by, it’s there. [00:26:28] Robert: It’s just such a zoo. If your kid isn’t so h- or let’s be honest, you, if you’re not heart set on seeing these characters today, it’s an easy skip, but if you are, yeah, then definitely worth it. [00:26:41] Joe: I have to laugh, Robert, because we did a character lunch at Cinderella’s Castle, um, with all the princesses. And we had my niece and my nephew with us. [00:26:52] Joe: We were so thrilled to take them. We had no idea until we got there, Robert, ’cause we didn’t do enough planning ’cause they weren’t my kids, that they weren’t true Disney fans. Yeah. I spent time- That is the nightmare. I spent time hanging out with the princesses, which don’t get me wrong, that’s fine, that’s good, but my niece and my nephew could have cared less. [00:27:10] Robert: Yeah, that’s, again, you gotta know your crew before you do all of this because, you know, there are people for whom that’s the trip. I mean, that’s the whole thing. That is, everything is just this character breakfast and, and you absolutely cannot miss that. And for other people, that is the best time to be going, getting on all the other rides in the park while all the people are doing their character breakfast, and you’ve got the shorter queues for the rollercoaster, and you would never be caught dead in a character breakfast. [00:27:34] Robert: Well, [00:27:35] Joe: well- Gotta know your crew. Well, let’s go there then. These, uh, you know, everybody’s got these upgraded fireworks packages now, where I can get my special seating area. Worth it or not? [00:27:45] Robert: Um, I don’t think that they are, uh, but again, there are people for whom it absolutely is. I mean, for me, if a sh- you can see fireworks anywhere in the park. [00:27:54] Robert: I mean, they’re up in the sky, that’s the thing. If you wanna see things go boom, you’ll see things go boom. The best place to see things go boom is in a queue that you’re, an empty queue that you are running through to go get on the rollercoaster that you’re gonna be on with no wait once the fireworks are over, or even better, to watch the fireworks from the rollercoaster- [00:28:13] Robert: that you didn’t wait to get on. Honestly, the fireworks from Big Thunder Mountain at Walt Disney World or at Disneyland, elite level experience. Yeah. I mean- But you can’t do that if you paid for the buffet over in the Tomorrowland restaurant. [00:28:26] Joe: That is a memory, and, and it’s all about memories. I mean, that’s a- Mm-hmm [00:28:28] Joe: huge memory. I’m on the- Absolutely. Oh, my goodness. Uh, staying on property. [00:28:34] Robert: If they’re giving you benefits for doing that, such as early park access or extended park access or best value in theme parks if you’re staying at one of the top three at Universal Orlando, and they’re giving you a free unlimited Express Pass for it, absolutely. [00:28:51] Robert: If there are no benefits for that, like Disneyland, they’ve taken away a lot of benefits, no. Go stay someplace, uh, you know, off property. Pay one-fourth, one-third the price. Use that for a better experience in the park or just save that and do something else. A- again, it all comes down to the specific benefit package that you’re getting with that particular hotel. [00:29:14] Joe: Meal [00:29:14] Robert: plans. I hate meal plans. I am, I’m a big advocate against meal plans. Uh, that requires you to start doing a lot of math to make sure that the meal plan works. I don’t eat that much in theme parks. I just don’t. There are very few theme park in, restaurants anymore that I like, uh, but I’m pretty jaded about all of this sort of thing. [00:29:36] Robert: Having said that, of course, I’m still gonna go back that there are people who are perfectly happy to do the math and have figured out the math and have figured out and make this work for them, and more power to you. I love you. Go for it. Get it. But for the average person who wants to go on vacation to have a good time and not be doing math to figure out if they’re making money on a deal or not, stay away from those. [00:29:55] Joe: When we went to Dollywood, uh, following your advice, I’m on Theme Park Insider, and I found out we could get this deal where we stayed on-site, which was great because we didn’t have to worry about parking. You got dropped off- Mm-hmm … right at the front door with their wonderful little trolley. I think everybody who works at Dollywood is 70 years old, by the way. [00:30:13] Joe: Um, they’re just spending their retirement, which made it fun because the guy driving it was full of stories and fun. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. But also for this particular weekday that we went, because we had the ability to go in the middle of the week, they threw in their food pass- Yeah … with it as a perk to get me to stay in, in there. [00:30:30] Joe: And I have to say, man, because it was free, I couldn’t eat that much food, Robert. My problem was there was so much food in the food plan that if I were paying for it, I, I would have, they would have had to roll me out of there. [00:30:42] Robert: Best thing about math is remembering that anything multiplied by zero is still zero. [00:30:46] Robert: So if you’re getting it for free, it’s a good deal. I’m really looking forward to next summer. I think they’re gonna have their first on-site property at Silver Dollar City. I’m looking forward to that because again, Dollywood is one of those where they do do a really nice package for you if you stay on-site. [00:31:02] Robert: Uh, so those two park hotels that they’ve got at Dollywood, those are very often worth it. And also the way that Dollywood is pretty remote in that valley there, it’s not like Disneyland where you can just walk across the street from an off-site hotel. You’re making a pretty long drive to get there- Yeah [00:31:19] Robert: and parking and having to deal with all of that. So again, everything is site-specific. But in general, again, you’re looking for the best deal possible. That’s why a little bit of planning is so valuable when doing theme parks because there are no- Rules that apply everywhere. You really have to look at the s- at the specific site and the time of year that you’re looking at visiting. [00:31:39] Joe: One more question. There are these, people look at these sometimes as nickel-and-dime expenses, but- Mm-hmm … I’m wondering if these add up or not. Things like cooling towels, lockers, sit-down lunch, refillable drinks, better transportation. Any of these small purchases that [00:31:57] Robert: you add on to your trip? Uh, the first one that jumped out at me was sit-down lunch, and I’m gonna endorse that one as enthusiastically as I possibly can, particularly if it is indoor, air-conditioned sit-down lunch, somebody’s taking care of you. [00:32:10] Robert: That is your break. That is a really good break at the middle of the day. Uh, that’s usually an elevated food experience as well, so that’s gonna be better nutrition, not just empty carbs. That’s gonna really give you the real fuel that you need to get through the rest of the day. They’ll usually just bring you as much water as you want because you gotta hydrate in the summer environment, so just keep chugging all that free water at, uh, your table service restaurant as you can. [00:32:33] Robert: That’s the first thing that I’m looking at. Things like cooling towels, it really depends on where you’re at. Like in the heat in Southern California, those can be a really good thing. Uh, sometimes in Orlando, you’re getting to a point where wet bulb temperatures are so high that water isn’t really helping you a whole lot, and what you need is just to get out of it and get into the air-conditioning, and that’s why I say go with the sit-down lunch. [00:32:54] Robert: Elevated transportation, again, you know, just all looking at what you’re doing there. Uh, in general, uh, just whatever gets me to the park earliest is the thing that I want. If they have, uh, if they’ve got some sweet transportation system but it doesn’t start running until the park opens, that doesn’t really help you. [00:33:12] Robert: What you want is something that’ll get you from your hotel to the front of that park half hour or so before it opens, ’cause you can rope drop the thing and get to the best attractions early. So yeah, again, uh, the thing that’s really important to me are this, is stuff that gets you comfort. And if this is something that is going to bring you comfort, then this is something well worth considering doing and paying for. [00:33:34] Robert: If this is something that’s gonna bring you extra anxiety and stress, then that’s something you probably wanna stay away from. So really just look at that comfort versus anxiety equation, and if you think that this is gonna be something that pays off for you, go for it [00:33:48] Joe: If only there were a place where we could keep up with the headlines, we could find a community of people that have reviewed these places, that give us hints about where the planning matters and where it doesn’t. [00:33:58] Joe: I just wish there were such a site like that, Robert. Oh, yeah. That’d be dream come true. You [00:34:02] Robert: know what? Oh? We’ve got this thing called themeparkinsider.com- Wow … which has all of this stuff, has had it for a very long time, in internet years at least. The, the best thing I love about it is just the community you’ve built. [00:34:13] Robert: You said that word community, I wanna hit on that. This is not, uh, this is not some, uh, tech bro who just came up with an AI site last month. This is the site that AI is pulling all of its information from. Created by actual people who’ve been to actual parks, sharing their actual experiences, ready to connect with you. [00:34:31] Robert: They’re so helpful. I mean, it is a generally helpful, very helpful community. I mean, w- we’re fans of this stuff, but we’re also very protective fans of it. We’re not apologists. When something is not going right, we’re gonna call it out. Because we wanna get that value. We wanna have that comfort. We’re here to have a good time. [00:34:47] Robert: We’re here to have our sacrifice of time and money respected with a great experience, with a world-class creativity, with great storytelling, with great customer service. And when we see it, we love it, we wanna protect it. We wanna tell everyone about it. And when someone’s fallen short, we wanna call them out. [00:35:07] Joe: themeparkinsider.com. We’ll link to it as we always do in our show notes page. I get all of my information from Robert, and it’s funny because I even hear you say Holiday World, and I groan because you’ve told me that one, too, every year, and I still have not been. My cousin, I told you- And [00:35:24] Robert: you’ve been, you went to Dollywood, and you were happy you did it. [00:35:26] Robert: I- So you’re gonna be happy when you go to Holiday World. I gotta go. And the best part about Holiday World is it actually has a whole water park attached to it that’s included with the same admission. It’s actually called Hollywo- Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari, and they’ve got the best collection of water coasters in the world. [00:35:41] Robert: Now you’re just shaming me. Bring your swimsuit, and have a great day. You’re just [00:35:43] Joe: shaming me now, Robert. We, you’ve been doing this for a long time. Mm-hmm. And I gotta wonder, because you know what our goal is every year, and the reason I love having you on, is the goal this summer really is to create memories, right? [00:35:54] Joe: We wanna create these fantastic times that we remember for a long time. There’s gotta be some memory that you go back to, that you remember, maybe for even from early on, of a theme park experience that you had. That might be a great way to wrap this up. Oh, [00:36:10] Robert: God, there’s so many, so many of them. But I’ll tell you what, is that one of the ones that I absolutely adore, back when I was a kid and I actually was in Boy Scouts, my Boy Scout troop did a trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. [00:36:25] Robert: They had just opened a coaster a few years ago called Loch Ness Monster. And it- This is another [00:36:31] Joe: of your favorite parks, by the way. [00:36:33] Robert: Beautiful park. Beautiful park. And it goes upside down, has a loop. Actually has two loops. They interlock And I’d never been on a rollercoaster that went upside down before. [00:36:43] Robert: But the loops are over water. So I convinced myself, it’s like, “Oh, well, if I fall out, I’ll go into the water, so I’ll be okay,” which is stupid nine-year-old reasoning, but it worked for me. I went on. Of course, I did not fall out because, you know, physics. Uh, not a class that I took at elementary school, but physics works, folks. [00:37:03] Robert: You’ll stay in the rollercoaster. Had a great time. Decades later, I came with my family to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and my daughter was with me, and she’d never been on an upside-down rollercoaster. And we went to Loch Ness Monster, and she looked at it, and she’s like, “Oh, yeah, it’s over water. We’ll be okay.” [00:37:20] Robert: So she went on it with me. So my first upside-down rollercoaster and her first upside rollercoaster were the same coaster, and I absolutely loved that experience. And we had such a great… It was a great family bonding moment, a great moment where a daughter can learn that her father’s an idiot and, uh, store that information for the rest of her life and, uh, lord that over me forever. [00:37:40] Robert: But, uh, I, I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. That is a great memory to have. [00:37:47] bumper: Hi, I’m Jamila Souffrant, and when I’m not helping people launch to financial freedom, I’m Stacking Benjamins. [00:37:57] Doug: Hey there, Stackers. I’m Joe’s mom’s neighbor, Doug, and wow, I can’t wait to hit the road for some rollercoaster action this summer. Sounds like with a little planning, it’s gonna be a great year. Let’s stay on theme parks for today’s question. Theme parks often buy insurance to guard against bad weather, but one rollercoaster in Abu Dhabi is so fast and the weather is so bad- How bad is it? [00:38:22] Doug: How bad was it? Thank you. This is how I know we work well together. It’s so bad you have to wear protective headgear to shield your face from desert sands. Well, that sounds like fun. Here’s the question: What brand of Formula 1 race car does the rollercoaster have you imagine you’re riding in at 149 miles an hour through the desert? [00:38:46] Doug: I’ll be back right after I go see if maybe I can cash in on this trend and give the neighborhood kids some rides in the El Camino. I mean, like, what could go wrong? [00:39:02] Doug: Hey there, Stackers. I’m roller coaster lover and guy who you should watch out for on the bumper cars. I’m coming for you, Joe’s mom’s neighbor, Doug. Ah, theme parks. Nothing says summer fun like spending a month’s worth of paychecks to try to avoid throwing up on the latest and greatest ride to hit the midway. [00:39:21] Doug: The hotness right now is all the way over in Abu Dhabi, where a rollercoaster reaches 149 miles an hour in just five seconds and requires riders to wear protective glasses against desert winds. How’s that for insurance planning? I asked you what brand of Formula 1 race car does the fastest rollercoaster on Earth pretend you’re riding? [00:39:44] Doug: The coaster is called Formula Rossa, so now I’m sure you’ve guessed it. With an Italian name like that, it must be Ferrari. And now here comes the Ferraris of financial podcasting. Yeah, okay, Joe. Let’s just pump the brakes on that one a little bit. It’s Joe and OG. You didn’t like that one? Ferraris of financial podcasting. [00:40:08] Doug: Settle down. [00:40:08] Joe: Formula Rossa. I didn’t know for a long time until I was at, uh, Channel 7, was speaking with their meteorologist, Dave Rexroth, about the fact that theme parks buy options, OG, against the weather. Like we think about people buying options against different things. Yeah. Airlines buy options against fuel prices going up. [00:40:29] Joe: Uh, theme parks buy against weather. I, I was- I, I didn’t know [00:40:33] Doug: that either. Yeah. So [00:40:34] Joe: do farmers. And farmers, yeah. Futures contracts is insurance against all the things that could go wrong, just to make sure that you have a better chance of not having a horrible year for whatever industry. Catastrophic, yeah. [00:40:49] Joe: Yeah. Yep. Let’s move into our headline. [00:40:51] headlines: Hello, darlings. And now it’s time for your favorite part of the show, our Stacking Benjamins headlines. Either of [00:40:58] Joe: you guys watch the show that won the Emmy this last year, Beef, on Netflix? Have you guys watched this show? [00:41:04] Doug: I haven’t, but they’ve been pumping it quite a bit on my thumbnails. [00:41:07] Doug: You know, right when I log in, I’m tempted. Is it good? [00:41:10] Joe: Well, I’ve never watched it either, but this piece in CNBC that we’ll link to in our show notes talks about it, and I love it when things that are hot in pop culture end up teaching us a little bit about the world of money, and in this case, also the world of healthcare. [00:41:26] Joe: So this piece is written by Annie Nova, and Annie writes, “In the new season of Netflix comedy drama Beef, Ashley, played by Kaley Spaeny, lands in the hospital due to an ovarian cyst. The waiting area’s bleak with gray decor and patients who look like they’ve been stranded there for years.” Isn’t that the way you imagine, by the way, the emergency room? [00:41:49] Joe: Just people that have been waiting for the emergency room doctor for roughly, uh, 40 days. [00:41:54] OG: Mm-hmm [00:41:55] Joe: Ashley’s partner, Austin, played by Charles Melton, returns from the reception desk with some news. “You’ve a super high deductible, $5,000” Austin says. And Ashley, of course, says, “Oh, wow, we can deduct 5,000 bucks? [00:42:08] Joe: What if it costs less, do they give us back the difference?” And Austin says, “Well, it’s kinda the opposite.” It is… It’s a funny joke, OG, but there are a lot of people, you know, that a lot of this stuff like 401, what’s the joke? I can’t run that far. Like, who can run that far? Or the deductible, like, “Oh, I get money back when I go to the doctor?” [00:42:30] Joe: Like, these, these terms I feel like sometimes are confusing. Like, what’s a Roth IRA? Why do they call it a Roth IRA anyway? Is [00:42:38] OG: that literally your question? Do [00:42:40] Joe: you know why they call it a Roth IRA? [00:42:42] OG: Yeah. Don’t you? Yeah. [00:42:44] Joe: Of course I do. [00:42:45] OG: Well, let’s hear it then. You’re just testing us. [00:42:47] Joe: Yeah. Roth was the name, where was he from? [00:42:49] Joe: Connecticut, I think, of the congressman- Person who came [00:42:52] OG: up with it. Yeah Yeah … who [00:42:53] Joe: proposed the rule and ended up having it in his [00:42:56] Doug: name. And 401is, like, the section of the bill. It was, like, how they numbered- No. No, [00:43:00] OG: no … the- It’s the senator’s name, was- It was a senator’s name? … Bob 401. It was 401. It was like… [00:43:05] OG: But it was spelled out. We just abbreviate it now. It’s like F-O-U-R-O-H-O-N-E. Yeah. It’s the part of the tax [00:43:15] Joe: code- Yeah … section 401. Yeah. Yeah. Annie writes, “That’s correct. Your deductible,” by the way, if you don’t know this, and I’m sure there are people listening that don’t, your deductible is the amount you actually need to pay- Before that- [00:43:27] Joe: before your health insurance coverage kicks in … before they [00:43:28] OG: kick in. Yeah. So this is why the juxtaposition of I need to have a high deductible health plan to get an HSA, like, I really want an HSA, but there’s a trade-off. The trade-off is you gotta be out of pocket a bunch of money before your insurance kicks in. [00:43:46] OG: So know what’s going on in your world. Obviously, you can’t predict if you’re gonna have a ovarian cyst that needs to be dealt with, but you kinda got a general sense of your health. And if you’re… gotta, you know, some health issues, you may not wanna do the high deductible plan. Or if you do the high deductible plan, and this is universal now I think in our family, 100% you have to ask for what the cash pay is. [00:44:07] OG: And the downside of doing the cash pay is it doesn’t count for your deductible. So, you know, I’ve gotta do an MRI on my shoulder, and it was 2,200 bucks. And I was like, “Hold on. I was just there a year ago for my leg. Don’t you guys have a cash price?” And she goes, “Oh, yeah, sorry, the cash price is 325.” But to put it- Right [00:44:28] OG: on the insurance costs 2,200. And by the way, that’s just part of my deductible, right? So it’s like what’s the point? The… I’m, I’m saving $1,800 by not doing it through the insurance people, but I’m not counting that 300 bucks against my deductible, so I’m still, you know, I’m still at zero, you know, for the year. [00:44:47] OG: Right. But if you’re not asking for cash price or cash discount even. Same thing for prescription drugs. There’s a prescription medication that I take. The sticker price is insane, and I just said to the doctor, I’m like, “Is there a better price for this?” And he’s like, “Oh yeah, yeah, probably.” We found a pharmacy that’ll ship it to me for 90% off what the sticker price was, and that I do pay through the HSA, [00:45:12] Joe: but- We had that with the pharmacist about a year ago. [00:45:14] Joe: The doctor actually apologized later, going, “Oh my God, I forgot that there was a generic. I totally forgot there was a generic that we could’ve gotten for-” [00:45:21] OG: Well, this is the brand. This is the name brand version. It’s not even a generic for my case, but just ask, you know? Yeah. Like, what are they gonna say? [00:45:27] OG: “No”? [00:45:28] Doug: Okay, fine. There’s so many things to consider when you’re figuring out what’s the best healthcare plan. Don’t forget, like we learned on Monday, that if you do choose a plan with an HSA, you can use it for auto repair. So, I mean, there’s, there’s a lot of different- It’s [00:45:41] Joe: the H-Y-S-A. H-Y, W- Yeah, same thing. [00:45:43] Joe: Same, same thing. The Y matters. Same but different. And it’s important that people get all that, OG, because that’s actually the point of Annie’s piece here. She writes that just one in four Gen Z adults could correctly identify the insurance term deductible, yet everyone wants the HSA. Like, we hear the words HSA, we’re like, “Ooh, I want that.” [00:46:05] Joe: Well, it comes- I want that. Y- y- yeah. Oh, it’s a triple tax free, bruh. Like bruh, it’s totally cool. There is no free lunch. There is no free lunch. What’s interesting, though, if I take that cash plan though, I can still use my HSA to pay the cash price. [00:46:22] OG: Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, you know, in our case, I’ve had a HSA for a number of years, so I’ve got a decent balance and contribute to it every month, so there’s… [00:46:31] OG: The downside is HSA people make us have a certain amount of money in cash before it can be invested. But, you know, there’s always money available, you know, debit card, you know, that you can use. And so yeah, you can use that for medical expenses if you have built up the HSA. If you’re just getting started, you haven’t built up that HSA yet, you know? [00:46:50] OG: I, I’m not a huge fan of the, like, save everything till you’re 65 idea. That seems like a lot of record keeping that I don’t necessarily wanna do, and I can’t promise that it’s always gonna be the way it is. Probably will be, but you know, 20 years away is kind of a long ways for me, so I’m not- Who knows? [00:47:07] Doug: Yeah … [00:47:07] OG: you know, I’m not gonna play that game. It’s easier just to have it auto, you know, have it auto-paid. Like I mentioned, that prescription medication is auto-paid from my HSA. I’m good Done. [00:47:18] Joe: Yeah, don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Well, and there’s another piece to this that I really wanna get to as well while we’re here, which is lately in my keynote talks I’ve been talking about retirement- Scoreboard [00:47:29] Joe: and how, well, a lot of people solve for more, right? And they expect me to be the guy who comes on stage and talks about more. But when we look at happy, happy for some people does mean you need to save more, OG, but it also means some lifestyle design. And what’s frustrating is when we look at healthcare design, what happens with a high-deductible plan according to this piece is that we end up with worse healthcare options because we decide that because I have a high-deductible plan, I’m not gonna go to the doctor as much. [00:48:03] Joe: And so what ends up happening is instead of solving for healthier, we’re solving for more money ’cause we heard this is a great thing, and we end up with outcomes that aren’t good at all. In fact, listen to this. “Many customers may not realize with a high-deductible plan they can face thousands of dollars in healthcare costs.” [00:48:21] Joe: They didn’t even know that piece. “Research shows that unaffordable deductibles can also worsen health outcomes. For example,” Strauss adds, “among cancer patients, cancer patients, high-deductible health plan coverage is associated with worse overall survival.” So even if I have cancer, if I have a high-deductible plan, OG, I’m like, “Oh, yeah, I don’t” [00:48:45] OG: This is, this is the trade when it comes to people ask me about HSAs and investing it and that sort of thing. [00:48:50] OG: You need to have your max out-of-pocket, which is another number that’s different than your deductible, by the way. So- Unbelievable … you know, if you’re taking notes at home, deductible, coinsurance, max out-of-pocket per person, max out-of-pocket per family. All different numbers, by the way. Spaghetti. And so yeah, you gotta kinda match all those. [00:49:10] OG: But if you’re gonna go that route, you need to eat that first level. And so if you’re thinking about this over the long term, that first little bit, just like investing, and we talked about this, I don’t know, whatever, eight, 10 weeks ago. You know, people are like, “Oh, cool. Yeah, cash is kind of boring and stupid. [00:49:27] OG: Like just get me to the investing part.” Well, you gotta have a great emergency fund before you can start investing, otherwise you’re gonna blow up your investing plan when you have a short-term emergency. And then nobody’s winning anything because your investment plan sucks, and you’re gonna, you know, blow that up to pay for car repairs. [00:49:44] OG: So the person that you know, the other day used their HYSA did it the right way. And now if you used all that, if you used up your savings, your emergency fund for your car, and you’re saving money in investment, now what you have to do is either shift money back to your short-term bucket or dollar cost averaging in cash to build that back up again So as this relates to your health insurance plan, if you’re gonna go the high deductible route, you need to know what those numbers are. [00:50:08] OG: How much do I have to have out of pocket? Does my emergency fund count? You know, do I have enough lying around for that? What’s my max out of pocket? What’s my co-insurance number? What’s my deductible number? And if you’re gonna build it in your HSA, that’s all cash. That’s all… That… You gotta get that first before… [00:50:23] OG: Because that’s what you’re saying. You’re saying, “I’m gonna pay this out of pocket this year in exchange for the lower premium.” That’s your trade. And if you’re like, “Oh crap, that number’s like 23 grand for my family. I don’t have 23 grand,” ooh, I don’t know that you wanna be picking the high deductible plan then, you know, ’cause that’s what you’re promising. [00:50:43] OG: That’s, that’s what you’re saying. You’re saying, “I’m gonna pay the first 20 grand,” or whatever the number is, “before y’all kick in anything.” Don’t get yourself into a hurt locker because you’re trying to save eight grand into an account that you think you’re gonna use in 40 frigging years. [00:50:59] Joe: Yeah, this is the issue that we’re all looking for the less expensive option, and it’s almost like the long-term care scenario, OG, that there just isn’t. [00:51:07] Joe: You know, best is truly in the eye of your own health issues. So I think optimizing for happy and well, and of course balancing out affordability and just- And I would, [00:51:20] OG: I would also submit to the court that it’s not even a universally similar answer year to year within the same family. [00:51:27] Joe: Oh, good point. [00:51:27] OG: You know, I mean, like, I’ll give you a perfect example for us. [00:51:30] OG: In the years where Alyssa was pregnant, we changed our health insurance plan because we’re like, “We know we’re fixing to write a big check for all that stuff,” and births under best scenarios are expensive, and if you have any sort of complications, then it’s, you know, it explodes astronomically in terms of cost. [00:51:50] OG: We’re like, “Yeah, we’ll pay the higher premium this year so that we don’t have that giant out of pocket.” So I think it changes based on, you know, what’s going on in your world, you know? If you’re… You need a knee replacement, and you’re gonna do it in February, and your health insurance renewal is in October, I think you should do some research on how much does the knee replacements cost under both plans and pick the right plan for that particular situation that’s gonna happen. [00:52:14] Joe: We had the same thing happen when our, when our kids were born. We switched from, uh, PPO to HMO because of the pregnancy coming up, and the HMO was going to actually cover more of it. This is an area that obviously today we wanted to introduce people to. We’re not gonna solve your healthcare problems in one short episode. [00:52:33] Joe: However, uh, we have a newsletter called The 201 where we dive into topics such as this. We also have a YouTube channel where we dive more into topics around your health and your money, so subscribe to those as well. All right, uh, we’re gonna wander out briefly on the back porch because we’re gonna shine the light today, Doug, on one very specific stacker. [00:52:54] Joe: Stacker Marsha has a- … a family that is a theme park in itself It appears that her teenager is a- Well, [00:53:06] Doug: yeah … fun kid. Yeah, and what I liked about this post was that, uh, Marsha showed some self-restraint that I have yet to learn because this was a Christmas gift she gave her then 17-year-old in 2012, and just now, 14 years later, is she willing to share with the world that this Christmas gift was a, a, a bank. [00:53:28] Doug: Picture like a round plastic piece about the diameter of a, I don’t know, a, a two-liter bottle of, of soda or something, and it’s white, and you can write on it with a dry erase marker. Like a vision board. Little bit like a vision board, and then the, the cylinder has three different receptacles where you could put money. [00:53:48] Doug: It’s a bank where you could- where a kid could save. So her then 17-year-old decides what his focuses are, what his priorities are for saving, which I thought, you know, that’s great. What a great way to teach kids about … I mean, 17’s a little late, but better late than never, right? Start- Goal-oriented [00:54:07] Doug: goal-oriented Be goal-oriented … help the, help the young man think about w- what are the three most important things he should be saving for. And so, uh, Marsha’s son decides to take that dry erase marker. I’m sure he put a lot of thought into this. Probably they did a little bit of a, a planning session maybe with Mom and Dad. [00:54:26] Doug: And what does he write on there? Um, section one, drugs. Section two, booze. Section three, the . She was such a proud mom. But it’s so bad we can’t even put it on the, the show. It’s so funny. So great. What a great post in the basement. Thanks, Marsha. [00:54:45] Joe: Yes. And, uh, based on the fact that she’s, uh, sharing that also, sounds like kid has a bright future in, um, entertainment. [00:54:54] Joe: Thanks not only to Marsha; thanks to everybody for hanging out with us today. If you know somebody who is headed to the theme park with the family, you wanna hand them this episode because I think, uh, Robert always has such a great primer on what to see and what not to see as we look around the United States. [00:55:11] Joe: And at the end of every episode, we ask Doug. Doug, what are the three things we should learn from today’s show? [00:55:17] Doug: First, take some advice from Robert Niles. Start with your plan and then work backward. Can we save money on this? Are there better days of the week to go? What does the theme park insider community think? [00:55:29] Doug: A little research can yield better-spent Benjamins. Second, the deductible on your healthcare, sadly not deductible to you, only to the healthcare world. But the big lesson, don’t tell Joe’s mom Robert Niles is visiting again. She’ll ask the question, “Does that mean we’re headed to Cedar Point?” Hey, Mom, remember the last time we took OG to Cedar Point? [00:55:53] Doug: Yeah, that wasn’t good for anybody, including that one poor worker Thanks to Robert Niles for joining us today. Learn more about saving at theme parks and spending wisely at themeparkinsider.com. We’ll also include links in our show notes at stackingbenjamins.com. This show is the property of SP Podcast LLC, copyright 2026, and is created by Joe Saul-Sehy. [00:56:18] Doug: You’ll find out about our awesome team at stackingbenjamins.com, along with the show notes and how you can find us on YouTube and all the usual social media spots. Come say hello. And oh yeah, before I go, not only should you not take advice from these nerds, don’t take advice from people you don’t know. [00:56:38] Doug: This show is for entertainment purposes only. Before making any financial decisions, speak with a real financial advisor. I’m Joe’s mom’s neighbor, Doug, and we’ll see you next time back here at the Stacking Benjamins show. [00:57:42] Joe: Welcome to the after show. If you’re new here, this is the part of the show that doesn’t exist. By the way, as an introduction to the after show, welcome to the, uh, overlords at our new home. We are now part of Gamut Media. We were at Westwood One/Cumulus, and a few weeks ago we made the, we made the move to Hubbard Radio and Gamut. [00:58:08] Joe: Thanks to them, it’s been very smooth sailing. But here’s what’s funny. You could tell, uh, the engineer over there, huge Stacking Benjamins fan. When I played maybe the second episode that we had, it had an after show, and he wrote to us the very next day going, “Hey, I just wanna flag this for you.” “There’s like a minute of silence in the middle of your show.” [00:58:36] Doug: You gotta get rid of this crap. [00:58:38] Joe: Yes. And Tina from our team writes him back and goes, “Welcome to Stacking Benjamins.” [00:58:42] OG: Welcome to the party, pal. [00:58:44] Joe: Yes. We put one minute of silence in our show on purpose. We’re the one show that does that. That’s the kind of kooky we are. Uh, hey, a friend of mine saw this online- About how expensive it is to take your family to a baseball game. [00:58:59] Joe: And this happens to be in Detroit, right? Comerica Park Yeah. Not even one of the more expensive parks. No. Listen to this. Takes a family of four to the park, three Pepsis, $2 each- Gee … s- s- six bucks. I know. At, at- At Gordie Howe Field- What are we complaining about [00:59:22] OG: so far? Let’s get to the expensive stuff [00:59:25] Joe: yeah, no. Four hot dogs, $7 each. Okay. 28 bucks. One cotton candy. Cotton candy. How much do you think cotton candy costs at the park? [00:59:35] OG: Oh, obviously $4. [00:59:37] Joe: $9- Oof … for a cotton candy. 17 Coors Lights. Okay. 12.99 each. That, there’s that one. Taking a family of four to the park is super expensive- Getting [00:59:53] OG: pricey … [00:59:54] Joe: for the family. [00:59:55] Joe: Of course, a guy at the ballpark with his, with his kids, just getting, getting fortified. [01:00:00] OG: I took Alex out for his birthday a couple of weeks ago. I was down near College Station, and so I had some, some stuff to do there. And then, and then I drove over to College Station. And, uh, and I… We had prearranged this obviously. [01:00:13] OG: I said, “Hey, it’s your birthday. Kind of in town.” I was about an hour away. “So let’s, uh, let’s, let me take you out to dinner.” So we go to a nice, uh, steakhouse. We’re like, “The blue hair special,” which means different things, by the way, to people today than it does to, like, our gener- Yeah … so sometimes people think blue hair, and they think, like, like, it’s a political statement of some kind. [01:00:36] OG: I think blue hair, and I think, like, old people, right? Like, that’s the- Sure … phrase that it means to me. But anyway, I said, “We got the blu- blue hair special.” And he’s like, and Alex is like, “I don’t, I don’t think we’ve got a lot of that at College Station.” And I was like, “Okay, never mind. It’s fine.” I was like, “See all the old people? [01:00:52] OG: We’re with them,” you know- … ’cause we get, we get to, like, the 5:00 reservation on a Saturday- We don’t have a lot of old [01:00:56] Joe: people in College Station … at a, at the steakhouse. [01:00:59] OG: But, um, you know, it’s full of college kids, right? Like, all the servers are college kids. The bus boy’s a college kid. The hostess stand is full of college-age kids, and very friendly. [01:01:11] OG: And at the end of the dinner I said to Alex, I said, “Hey, you should, uh, you should try to get her number.” And he’s like, “Come on, Dad.” And I was like, “Shoot your shot, man,” you know? Like, trying to pump my kid up. And he’s like, “Nah, it’s not my thing.” And I said, “Kinda my thing.” And so I decided that it would be a great idea to pretend that I got this gal’s phone number. [01:01:38] OG: Oh, God. So I take, so I take the receipt and I write in, like, “Thanks, honey,” in, like, bubble letters as best as I can with a smiley face, and I write a phone number on there, and then I text it to my wife. And my, my kid’s like, “What are you doing?” Oh, my God. This is gonna be awesome. And so I text- In the most [01:01:58] Doug: non-awesome way ever, Doug. [01:02:00] Doug: Her divorce lawyer is gonna love this. [01:02:03] OG: So I text a picture. Alex is like, “Stop, dude. Like, this is just gonna cause an ex- like, chaos for no reason.” I’m like, pull the pin, like, grenade out. Here we go. [01:02:14] Doug: Nothing OG likes doing better than pulling the pin- [01:02:17] OG: Pull the pin- … and see what happens … and drop the grenade in the f- in the fight and all. [01:02:20] OG: And so I just write… I take a picture of it and I write, “Still got it.” That’s what I send. And I’m thinking, like, this can go in any way, any direction, right? Like, it could be- Unbelievable … rage quitting. Like, I don’t know what’s gonna happen. But I’m here for it. Let me read to you the reply. So I send, “Still got it,” with a smiley face and a phone number on the receipt. [01:02:44] OG: And my wife, God bless her, goes, “Wow, that’s bold. Was she cute?” I’m like- … “Well, this went a different direction.” [01:02:56] Doug: Okay. Now I know where the guardrails are. All right. Okay. All right. So, [01:03:01] OG: uh, um- That’s when you know how many years you’ve been married, right there. Pretty much, yeah. Where she’s like, “Oh, good job. Atta boy.” [01:03:14] OG: And then she writes, “Caroline wants to know if she was young.” [01:03:21] OG: And so I, uh- How far [01:03:23] Joe: over 80 was she, [01:03:24] OG: OG? So I call, so I call right away ’cause I’m thinking, that answer was so not what I expected that I gotta double-check, right? Like, like, I’m… This is, like, the weird dog house, weird, weird one. But anyway, so, uh, they’re in the car and Caroline’s like- She used reverse psychology on you [01:03:42] OG: actually, my daughter was more mad than anything. My daughter’s like, “Why are you getting girls’ phone numbers?” Good for Caroline. So she, she goes, “Take care, Mom.” And I said, “Ah, it was a joke.” She goes, and Lissa goes, “Yeah, I know.” I was like, “What? What do you mean?” [01:03:55] headlines: Savage. And she’s like, “You couldn’t think of [01:03:58] OG: any number better than a Dallas area code number to use?” [01:04:01] OG: And I was like, “Well, maybe she lived in Dallas.” Mm-hmm. And she’s like, “Okay. Whatever.” I’m like, “What? You could’ve kept it going.” Like, you, you, you kind of pumped me up there for just a, just a brief moment where I was like, “Okay. Eh, you know- … like, this is kinda fun.” And she’s like, “Yeah.” A guy could dream. [01:04:19] Doug: She’s like, “No. [01:04:21] OG: Nice try, but-” [01:04:22] Doug: She knows you have so little game that that was never gonna happen. [01:04:27] OG: I thought maybe she thought for a second, but I guess not. Anyways, I did not get the waitress’s phone number at the steakhouse in College Station- Yeah, we all- … nor did my son for that matter … figured that part out, OG. I do love [01:04:37] Joe: Doug, though. [01:04:38] Joe: I do love his moxie and the fact that he’s like, “No, I’m gonna go for it.” There’s a… I got these, uh, coasters recently that all have pretty fun phrases on them, and one says exactly… I got this for OG for next time he comes over. It said, “You know what? I think I’ve graduated past the age where you think about stuff before you say it. [01:04:59] Joe: Now I just kinda go, ‘Let’s see where this goes.'” [01:05:02] OG: Yeah. [01:05:02] Joe: What’s the worst that could happen? Yeah, that was [01:05:03] OG: exactly it. You know, I really wanted Alex to do it, but then of course I wasn’t going to. That would be totally weird. But then I, I… Like in my brain I just kinda went through this whole thing of like how can I use this, and, and it was like Mess with the wife, [01:05:18] Doug: so. [01:05:18] Doug: You know, our version of that in our family is the, you know, the fin turn had a stretch from like late grade school through middle school where the kid had no filters whatsoever. Mm. And one s- Wonder where he gets that from. I know, right? And one, one Sunday afternoon, and my wife’s out of town, but one Sunday afternoon at like 4:30 he announces, “Oh, I have a Spanish project due tomorrow. [01:05:50] Doug: And one of the things that we can do is go to a Mexican restaurant and f- get, you know, film ourselves ordering in Spanish and having a conversation in Spanish.” I’m like, “All right. Well, of all the options,” you know, there was like a diorama he could’ve built or write a rep- whatever, but that was the easiest one ’cause then I get to go out for food. [01:06:13] Doug: Tacos sold it for you. Taco, more food for me, exactly. So we drive all the way down to Mexican Village in Detroit. Wonderful food. Yeah. I’m like, “We’re gonna make the best out of this.” So we kinda cover the assignment, but then my other son plays the odds game. Do you know odds? It’s basically truth or dare, but odds are, hey, odds you do this really stupid thing. [01:06:38] Doug: I won’t explain the whole game to you, but the fin turn takes the bet and the bet was, mind you my son’s in eighth grade, and he has to ask the waitress out on a date. And the waitress is like, you know, 28 or 30. She was pretty cute. And he struggles to ask this girl out on a date in Spanish. Got the whole thing on film, and she burst out laughing so hard. [01:07:08] Doug: I’m like, “Okay, that’s a little much, senorita. We can back that down a little bit.” This kid’s eighth grade. [01:07:18] OG: Just got destroyed by a 30-year-old. She just [01:07:20] Doug: destroyed this kid. Just… She’s howling
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